Ahead of Nov 7 polls in Chhattisgarh, BJP leader hacked to death in Maoist-hit Narayanpur
Narayanpur, Nov 4: A Bharatiya Janata Party leader was killed on Saturday in Narayanpur district in poll-bound Chhattisgarh allegedly by Naxalites, a police official said.
Ratan Dubey, the BJP's Narayanpur district unit vice president and the area's Assembly convenor, was hacked to death with a sharp edged weapon in the market at Kaushalnagar village while he was campaigning for Assembly polls scheduled for November 7 and 17, he said.
A police team has rushed to the spot and efforts to nab those involved are underway, the official added.
Condoling the incident, BJP leader Om Mathur in a message on X said, "I am deeply saddened by the brutal murder of Chhattisgarh BJP's Narayanpur Assembly convenor and Narayanpur district vice president Ratan Dubey ji by Naxalites during the campaign. The entire party condemns this cowardly incident.
The incident comes amid accusations by the opposition BJP of "targeted killings" of its workers in the run up to the polls.
On October 20, BJP worker Birju Taram was shot dead by suspected Maoists in Sarkheda village in Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki district.
Narayanpur is among the 20 Assembly seats on which polls will be held on November 7. The second phase of polls to the 90-member House will take place on November 17, while votes will be counted on December 3.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
